When you have a pet rat there are certain medications that you should have on hand in case your pet needs them in an emergency. I'm going to tell you about some of those medicines. The first one is Amoxicillin. This medicine you have to get from your vet and you should know that some vets won't give you Amoxicillin because they learn in veterinarian school that it can kill guinea pigs and hamsters and will generalize this to all rodents, but it works well for rats.
Your vet will tell you the right dosage but you should either get the liquid or capsules so that you can easily mix the right dosage with some soy milk, baby formula or something sweet so your rat will eat it.
The second most important thing I will tell you to have on hand is Baytril, the generic name is Enrofloxacin. I have had several people ask me recently how to get this and other medications by mail without a veterinarians prescription and vet bill. It's available here. If you can't find it just do a Google search for Enrofloxacin liquid, you'll most likely find it cheapest at Bird Supply websites.
Because most places don't make medications specifically for rats we have to take the same medications labeled made for other animals like pigeons, horses and ferrets and adjust the dosage to work with rats.
To use Baytril (Enrofloxacin) liquid with rats you will need to buy the liquid and mix it with something sweet to eat or drink. The dose for 10% liquid is 0.1 ml/lb BID
I figured that out to be two drops of the Baytril twice a day for my 2 lb rats.
This works well for rats who have mycoplasma. So if your rat is sneezing, wheezing or having a hard time breathing you should start them on Amoxicillin first and then Baytril. But if you can't get to a veterinarian's office and have Baytril on hand start giving it to them. Give them this for 6-8 weeks. My little guy Brodie got a little better after giving him Baytril but his lungs were weak and so I gave him the Baytril for a year, which helped him quit a bit. Sometimes they will get scar tissue in their lungs from an upper respiratory infection and their lungs will never be the same. All you can do in this case is make them as comfortable as possible while they are with you.
Of course if you feel better taking your rat to the vet's office please feel free to do so. This is just general help and information that I've found out from my own vet and other rat parents that have helped me out when I needed it.
Another thing to have on hand is Ivermectin paste. This tube of paste is made as a horse wormer but it can be easily used to treat rat lice and mites and you can find it in most pet stores. I found it in Petsmart. When I saw that two of my rats had rat lice, I bought this paste and gave it to them and it got rid of the rat lice. It does not kill the mite eggs though so you do have to give them one dose each week until the mites are gone.
Dosage instructions for Ivermectin paste: Mix a small amount the size of a grain of uncooked white rice of the Ivermectin paste with something sweet and let your rat lick it off a spoon, once a week for 3 weeks.
Important: Only give what would be the size of a grain of uncooked rice. More could make your rat very sick or even kill them.
I ordered this from Amazon at this link.
If I ever get any pet rodents, I am coming to you and reading all your articles for the best tips. You are the queen.
ReplyDeletelol Thanks. :)
ReplyDeletehow long does the oral bird baytril keep after opening?
ReplyDeleteMine kept working for 4 months. I used it up by then but I would imagine as long as you keep it in a cool dry place (not in the fridge) it will keep for a long time.
DeleteThanks for all the wonderful advice! I'm a new rat mama and I had no idea about all these things.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome. Hope it helps.
DeleteHi! Im sorry I hit reply because I couldn't find where to comment but I have a question. My ratty has had a uri in the past, & I happened to have baytril on hand, so I gave it to him & he got better. My vet retired but he gave me enough baytril so I still have some left. I crushed up a sliver of a pill & it got Dibbles better. Then we had him neutered & my new vet gave me smz/tmp & to avoid a uri after surgery since he had 1 before, so he took that for 14 days. Its been a few months now & he seemed fine during this time. But lately he seems to wake up with alot of porpherin around his nose. I gave him baytril again for a few days, then stopped because I didn't want him to get immune to it, but then the porpherin worried me so I put him back on for a week. I hope im not making it worse by the on & off with baytril, but tonight I heard him sneeze & he still wakes up with porpherin. My question is, should I put him back on the baytril to be safe? Or did I mess up any chance he had to get well by putting him on & then off? I noticed you had your ratty on baytril for a year? And it helped him? If that be the case I'll put him back on it. Im just not sure how long to keep him on this time. Id rather be safe than sorry. His name is Dibbles & I thank you so much for help, Wendy
DeleteHello Dibbles, Yes you can put your rat back on the Baytril even if you stopped it before and it should still work. If the Baytril is not clearing it up you might need to see a vet. If your rat has Myco- Because Mycoplasma is probably never eliminated entirely from the airways, it often becomes necessary to use pulse antibiotic therapy (long term, intermittent, dosing), or a continuing maintenance schedule of antibiotics for rats with chronic Mycoplasmosis. That's why my rat was on antibiotics for a year.
DeleteCan Baytril be mixed with dairy or non dairy liquid such as rice milk?
ReplyDeleteI've heard pros and cons of mixing with dairy and most say dairy decreases the absorption rate so I would mix it with something else. I mixed mine with a tiny bit of juice and they loved it.
DeleteDon’t know if you can help but I have powdered baytril for pigeons but need to mix for my rats, any ideas on this ? Thanks
ReplyDeleteI'm really not sure about powdered stuff but this site will give you dosage instructions. http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm
DeleteYou could find some rat groups on FB and ask there too. There are usually some very knowledgeable people in those groups.
Thank you will try the website x
DeleteI'm sorry I couldn't be more help.
DeleteHi, I read the weight per dosage. That's using the 10% concentration the link brings you to, correct? I bought a bottle of 10% and a bottle of the 2.5% because another site didn't specify. Thanks so much for sharing this, the amoxicillin will be here tomorrow to start and then I can up to baytril if need be.
ReplyDeleteYes, I used the 10% concentration. I sure hope it helps.
DeleteHi, I got 3 baby rats from a friend who had bought them from a feeder Bin. They all seem to have uri. I've been giving them amoxicillin, 2 are getting much better but one little guy is still sneezing and making monkey sounds. I bought him a bottle of Baytril 10%. I don't understand dosing at all, esp since he's less than a pound in weight. What do you think the dose should be and how much flavored liquid should I add? Also, do I dilute the medication or just mix it with flavoring to mask the nasty taste? Thanks :)
DeleteHi, I would give your rat one drop of the Baytril twice a day until he is better. I used to just mix it in a teaspoon with a little applesauce and they would eat it.
DeleteThank you so much! The amoxicillin isn't helping and I keep hearing how Baytril can't be given to growing babies unless it's an emergency. He's getting worse so a drop in applesauce sounds like a good option at the moment.
DeleteI'm so sorry he's not getting better. If the Baytril doesn't work you might need to take him to a vet. I hope it works.
DeleteThanks again, I was also wondering if I should have kept giving him amoxicillin with the Baytril or just stop amoxicillin completely? He's doing so well, growing a ton and a very active little sweetie. I'm only giving the baytril a few days, if nothing gets better I'm calling a vet.
DeleteYou can give both, it won't hurt him. I'm glad to hear he's doing better. But if he's not better in a few days I would see a vet because it might be something that needs a different medicine. Good luck.
DeleteHow much amoxicillin should I give my 3 baby rats? I have capsules.
ReplyDeleteI don't know enough about capsules dosage to give you the right information. You would have to get liquid for me to give you a dosage. One of the rat groups on FB would be able to help you though. Or you could try to crush a small amount of the capsules in a few drops of water and give it to them if you just want to wing it.
DeleteHey not sure u will see this it's old post but I have 3 girl rats about 8 months old I've had them for 6 months one has been sneezing since I got her but never showed any signs of being sick she was always very hyper and eats good but now 6 months later she started showing signs of being sick one all white rat started having red stains on her back from cuddling she started sleeping a lot more eating less low energy very mucousy so I ordered some baytril 2.5% 0.2mg twice a day it's been 5 days now and she looks like her old self running around playing and everything but she is still sneezing like crazy today she literally sneezed for 45 mins straight so I ran the shower on hot then sat in there with here for 10 minutes that seemed to help her sneezes now are dry she's not mucousy and her lungs sound clear do you think this could be sinus infection along with allergies? My friend said I should start her on some Doxycycline along with the baytril but it's like sold out everywhere I look.. any suggestions? Oh and the closest vet that takes rats near me is 2 hours away in another state I have no car so idk how I would do that
ReplyDeleteAlso you could join some rat groups on FB. They are a huge help when it comes to this kind of thing.
DeleteDoxycycline would probably be a good addiction. I found it available here. https://overstockpetmeds.com/product/bird-doxy-med/
Deletehttps://www.yourpetsource.com/shop/birds/antibiotics-birds/bird-biotic-doxycycline-100-mg-antibiotic-birds/
https://www.everythingbiorb.com/biorbstore/index.php/bird-biotic-doxycycline.html
You might have to figure out how much to give them though.
You can Google Bird Doxycycline and see what websites come up that sell it also. They might have it at Walmart as well and at Cal Ranch if you have one of those.
I hope that helps.